Firefighters bring Jerusalem Forest blaze under control

Personnel on the ground and 6 planes still battling to douse fire on western outskirts of capital

Israeli firefighter airplanes work to extinguish a fire raging in the Jerusalem Forest on September 11, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Firefighters battled Sunday to bring under control a massive blaze in the Jerusalem Forest on the western outskirts of the capital. Ten teams on the ground, assisted by six firefighting planes, were also working to prevent the spread of the flames to nearby buildings.

The Israel Fire and Rescue Services said Sunday afternoon that while they were now in control of the blaze, they would continue working until it was fully extinguished, a process expected to take several hours. There was still a danger that strong winds could rekindle the fire, spreading it further.

Planes continued to fly back and forth, dropping fire suppressant to douse the blaze.

About 20 people were evacuated from the Zippori Center, a guesthouse between the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and the neighborhood of Har Nof, due to thick smoke in the area.

There have been no reports of injury or damage to property. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

In June, a fire broke out in another part of the forest, leading to road closures and evacuations.

Last summer, a wave of fires in Jerusalem suburbs burned more than 1,500 dunams (370 acres) of forest. Police determined that some of them were deliberately lit and found the remains of Molotov cocktails where they believe the blazes started.

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